Gee, our old Beetles ran Ã¢â‚¬Â¦ great?
Reports MITZIMOM: Ã¢â‚¬Å“In 1972, my husband had a 1956 blue VW Beetle, which was a hand-me-down from its previous owner, a G.I. stationed in Mannheim, [West] Germany. It was a car that passed through many hands, and they were all Army G.I.Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s stationed in Mannheim.
Ã¢â‚¬Å“On the day this photo was taken, his friends had purchased a grandfather clock in Mannheim and needed some way to transport it to their living quarters, which is where my husbandÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s Beetle, with its convertible top, came in. When he returned to the States, my husband sold it to the next G.I. looking for cheep transportation. It would be interesting to know how long it lasted until it was Ã¢â‚¬ËœretiredÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ from service.Ã¢â‚¬?

Writes Rusty of St. Paul: “I would like to think most of us enjoy the first snowfall of the season for a number of reasons: its singular beauty; as a reminder that we do not live in a land of monotonous seasons (or lack of seasons); because the holidays will soon be upon us; so we can say ‘Did you get yer deer yet?’; ski season coming!

“Today, I’m trying to enjoy the first snowstorm of spring, for many of the same reasons. Though I put my skis away two weeks ago, I don’t have a Christmas list to worry about, and the deer are safe. It’s definitely a beauty thing today. Huge eyelash-draping flakes sashaying down. Rotting snow covered by a clean scrim. Very pretty. Now I see the consistency is changing, and the snow is pelting down faster.

“As I’ve learned from fellow Bulletin Boarders, I have NOT put away the snow shovels yet!”

Our theater of seasons

luv.mom: “According to the calendar, spring arrived March 20. But I’m still dressing in layers: parka over hoodie. I didn’t know what a hoodie was for until we moved to Minnesota. When we lived in Southern California, I thought a hoodie was a fashion statement.”

Life as we know it

D. Ziner: “When I lived in California, years ago, I experienced a few earthquakes, but I must have been a good distance from the epicenter in each case — or at least in an area where they were not magnified by the ‘Jell-O effect.’

“Last Monday morning was a different story. From the intensities of the noise and the violent shaking and shuddering, I first believed that a large semi had left the adjacent street at high speed and crashed into the corner of the motel, and that the second floor had collapsed onto the first. A few seconds later, I could see and feel the more usual swaying and rocking action, so I abandoned the truck theory and figured I had lived through another earthquake.

“As a result, I welcomed my return flight even more than usual, and I am not going to complain any more about the severity or length of our winters — nor the depth of the potholes. I’ll just happily take whatever our seasons bring.”

A lesson in black and white

Email from a man oft-noted for his interest in colors: “Elvis was visiting a friend last month. Their coffeemaker was not behaving, and one day while in a store, Elvis pointed out the Mr. Coffee machine he had just purchased a few weeks prior. It comes in white or black. Elvis‘ friend chose white. (Elvis had bought a black one.) It was priced at less than 20 bucks, so we walked out with a new one for them.

“Elvis soon realized a major difference in the white version of the coffeemaker. Any drip of coffee showed up clearly on the plastic surfaces. His friend wiped off spots and spills two or three times each morning, and then gave the entire unit a good cleaning each evening. Elvis realized that he had wiped his off only once or twice since he had had it, and that was to remove dust. On the black surface, coffee can’t be seen. He quietly kept this fact to himself.”

Not exactly what he had in mind

Al B of Hartland: “The rooster had not yet crowed. It was well before 5 a.m. I was trying to shave in front of a hotel mirror that was far too short for me to see my face if I stood upright. I had to stoop over. I pushed the top of a pressurized can of shaving cream. Half the lather shot out. I know what you’re thinking: How old was that shaving cream? I don’t know for sure, but the ’80s made some great shaving cream.

“Its age wasn’t the problem. The problem was trying to get the unused lather back into the can.”

The Permanent Maternal Record

Terri of Cottage Grove: “I have decided to write to Stephen Hawking (cosmologist, physicist) and tell him I have discovered a new black hole. It is my 82-year-old mother’s purse.

“She borrowed a pen from me at the store. She couldn’t get into her house because she couldn’t find her house key. She had to buy a 12-pack of gum because she swore she was completely out. Then she had to blow her nose on a napkin in my car, because she did not have any Kleenex. She had to borrow $2 from me because she said she had left her wallet at home.

“I finally asked her if I could look in her purse. I found: four pens, two sets of house keys, five Chiclets and six jelly beans, two travel packs of Kleenex and her wallet. I was afraid to keep looking ….”

Everyone’s a critic!

Nellie: “I had read rave reviews about ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’ movie and found that the closest theater showing it was in Oakdale. I headed north and, upon arriving, circled the full parking lot and finally got to the ticket window, only to find out that the movie was at the OTHER theater in Oakdale. (Who knew there were two?) So I headed farther north and did a horseshoe turn onto a frontage road, circled that full parking lot, and at the ticket window found out there were only three seats available. I took row C on the end, so as not to disturb anyone, as I was by now just a little bit late.

“The seats are plush leather recliners. No kidding! I was on the end with two spaces for wheelchairs next to me. I could see that the people down the row had the footrest of their recliners in the up position. I tried to do the same, but I could not find a lever or anything by the front of the seat to raise mine. I thought maybe because it was an end-of-the-row seat, it did not have that capability. When the movie was over, I asked an usher, who showed me there was a button on the side of the inside of each seat that triggered the footrest. My girth had masked it. I was also told that all 17 auditoriums (theaters) had this same recliner seating. Wow! (I’ve got to get out in the world more.)

“This was a lovely way to spend an afternoon. The animated dancing man at the end of the credits was worth the price of admission alone.”

The best State Fair in our state!

Or: The road to maturity…

Peggy T of Osceola, Wis.: “Great-grandson Cameron was visiting his grandparents for a few days. Grandpa asked him what he wanted to do. Cameron said that he wanted to go to the State Fair.

“Grandpa said: ‘Let’s call and see if they are open.’ He got out his cellphone and said: ‘Hello, State Fair, are you open?’ He told Cameron: ‘No, they are not open, and will not be open until August-September, and that is not for a long time.’ There were a few tears, and then he accepted the fact that he could not go to the State Fair.”

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